This May: The Freedom Riders

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These revolutionary civil-rights activists, The Freedom Riders, managed to bring the president and the entire American public face to face with the challenge of correcting civil-rights inequities that plagued the nation in the early 1960's.

Freedom Riders: An American Experience

Watch it May 16

8pm - PBS North (8.1 / 31.1)11pm - PBS Second Chance (8.2 / 31.2)

From May until November 1961, more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives — and many endured savage beatings and imprisonment — for simply traveling together on buses and trains as they journeyed through the Deep South.

Veteran filmmaker Stanley Nelson's inspirational documentary is the first feature-length film about this courageous band of civil-rights activists. Gaining impressive access to influential figures on both sides of the issue, Nelson chronicles a chapter of American history that stands as an astonishing testament to the accomplishment of youth and what can result from the incredible combination of personal conviction and the courage to organize against all odds.